DO YOU WANT TO STILL GET MY EMAILS AFTER GDPR TAKES EFFECT?
Photograph: Mike Theiler/AFP

A last-minute flurry of emails from companies trying to retain customers ahead of the deadline for Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has prompted a slew of complaints - and memes - on social media.

Friday is the last day for companies to comply with GDPR regulations and as a result, inboxes around the world are clogging up with emails warnings that “the privacy policy has changed” and pleas to “just click here so we can stay in touch”.

The whole process has inspired the internet to rope in everyone from Julian Assange to Donald Trump to Prince William in an attempt to illustrate their frustration at the electronic onslaught.

The new law is a replacement for the 1995 Data Protection Directive, which has until now set the minimum standards for processing data in the EU.

GDPR will significantly strengthen a number of rights: individuals will find themselves with more power to demand companies reveal or delete the personal data they hold; regulators will be able to work in concert across the EU for the first time, rather than having to launch separate actions in each jurisdiction; and their enforcement actions will have real teeth, with the maximum fine now reaching the higher of €20m (£17.5m) or 4% of the company’s global turnover.